RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Opponents of mandatory HPV vaccinations want the Rhode Island General Assembly to stop requiring the vaccines for all seventh graders. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay wonders if politicians should be allowed to interfere in medical decisions.

When Rhode Islanders head to polls next week, they will face an important issue that has not drawn much attention. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay looks at the Constitutional Convention question.

Our small state is holding a big election on Nov. 4. Statewide and federal offices are all being contested. Every General Assembly member confronts voters, who will also elect mayors in the Rhode Island’s two largest cities, Providence and Warwick.

As the battle over whether to hold a Rhode Island Constitutional Convention simmers on the back burner in the dog days of August, the debate is taking shape.

Every 10 years, Rhode Island voters must decide whether to hold a so-called ConCon, which is comprised of citizen delegates elected from Rhode Island’s 75 House districts. This time, the discussion is largely along ideological lines, with more conservative groups favoring a convention and liberal and moderate organizations opposed.

A conservative-leaning think tank says Rhode Island spends more than 220 million dollars each year on what it calls non-essential state services. The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity says cutting this spending would improve Rhode Island’s economy.

The state Labor Relations Board has slated an election for later this month so state-subsidized child care workers can vote on whether they want to join a union. The law allowing the workers to unionize was passed this year by the General Assembly.

Mike Stenhouse, CEO of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, joins the Roundtable this week to discuss his center's sales tax elimination plan; the debate over high-stakes testing, Woonsocket's reliance on Food Stamps, and the outlook for the 2013 Red Sox.